Housing Crisis Doesn’t Stop Approval Of Huge Development
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Broward County Commissioners were at it again this week approving a new huge development.
You would think that with the housing market in the toilet, the commission would take a break.
Nooooooo.
Commissioners approved the project because they have drunk the transit Kool Aid handed out by the development community.
Developers say they should be allowed to increase density to supply passengers for a proposed rail transit system.
I got an idea. Why not figure out how to pay for a transit system before approving projects?
Commissioners couldn’t wait when it came to Metropica. Planned for 92 acres in Sunrise, Metropica will be wedged between the Sawgrass Mills Mall and the hockey arena.
Commissioners brushed aside complaints from nearby homeowners in Plantation Acres about traffic and crime. Then they embraced one of the biggest projects approved in recent years.
Commissioners Stacy Ritter and Kristin Jacobs were the biggest cheerleaders.
Metropica will contain 2,800 new housing units, most in multi-story buildings.
There will be 485,000 square feet of commercial space and another 785,000 square feet of office spaceâ€â€roughly the square footage of six super Wal-Marts.
All this is within sight of the two huge residential towers which lie empty and unoccupied north of the Sawgrass Mills Mall. All this is within site of numerous empty store fronts and offices within shouting distance of the mall.
“I was in Denver two weeks ago and Denver has an amazing downtown area where people live and work and shop and they never have to get in their cars, gushed Ritter. “I think we embrace these developments.
Denver, however, has a distinct downtown unlike Broward County.
Despite transit, Denver remains one of the most congested cities in the nation.
Denver residents pay a sales tax for transit, approved just four years ago. Still, the system is cutting service because it faces a huge budget deficit.
Transit really worked in Miami-Dade County. Yeah, if you like the fact that Miami-Dade is still trying to figure out how to pay for Metrofail after three decades.
Who do developers believe should pay for their new transit system?
You.
You can pay for transit after you pay for increased home insurance, property taxes, gasoline, food and the skyrocketing cost of everything else.
Oh, but we can get the federal government to pick up most of the cost of building the system, says the development community and their lackeys on the commission.
Burdened with a record deficit, the federal government can really be counted on to pay for a transit system in Broward County.
Get real!
Commissioners have no way to fund this pipe dream of a transit system. They can hardly pay for the bus system.
All this talk of a transit system by commissioners is an cover to give their lobbyist friends what they want more development.
September 10th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Buddy, no wonder you are no longer working at the sun-sentinel with stories like this… come on.
September 11th, 2008 at 5:11 am
what’s wrong with the article johny? I think Buddy is right on point.
You must not live in sunrise, like I, or are a lobbyist.
September 15th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
“All this is within sight of the two huge residential towers which lie empty and unoccupied north of the Sawgrass Mills Mall”
Before you write crap like this, get your facts straight and don’t mislead people. While you are correct that the towers are “empty and unoccupied” why didn’t you mention that they are awaiting a certificate of occupancy and that closings are to begin next month? Oh yeah, you forgot to do your research or just didn’t want to print that information.